Portable cooler, gasser, and dispenser for keg beer and the like



Dec. 22, 1959 G. c. WOOLLEY PORTABLE COOLER, GASSER AND DISPENSER FORKEG BEER AND THE LIKE Filed Sept. 24, 1956 INVENTOR. i fl f ew/awouirUnited States Patent PORTABLE COOLER, GASSER, ANT) DISPENSER FOR KEGBEER AND THE LIKE George Craig Woolley, St. Paul, Minn. ApplicationSeptember 24, 1956, Serial No. 611,463

2 Claims. (Cl. 62-306) This invention relates to a readily portabledevice for supporting and completelyservicing a keg or small barrel ofbeer or other beverage which requires for proper draughtand tastecharacteristics, cooling, gassing and controlled dispensing. My presentinvention is particularly designed and conceived for home rather thancommercial usewhere it is desired to dispense a draught beverage suchasbeer to a group of people, from a keg.

At the present time the distributors ofvarious malt beverages supply totheir customers, cooling and gassing apparatus for small gatherings,usually employing a helical coil to'be placed in a box of ice and an airpump or carbon dioxide cylinder of heavy construction. The apparatus ishooked up at the home and in many instances, the keg heats up (sinceonly the discharge through the coil is cooled), the saturation level ofthe gas is consequently decreased in the beer and more gas is released,resulting in foam when the beverage is dispensed. The coil, if notthoroughly cleaned and sterilized after each use, is unsanitary andgives the next user an offtaste beer; Cleaning time of such-coilrequires from a half to a full hour and is often disregarded by thedissumption of the entire contents of the keg.

A further object is the provision of a device of the class describedwherein a simple, compact wheeled chassis serves the multiple functionsof a keg-support, a refrigerating chamber, a mounting for controlledgassing and dispensing mechanism and in addition, a valuable source ofadvertising for the distributor or manufacturer of the beverage. I

Another object is to provide a compact, rugged device of the classdescribed of simple and inexpensive construction affording a high degreeof sanitation and provision for sterilizing of the few dispensing parts.

- These and other objects and advantages of my inventionwill'more fullyappear from the following description madein conjunction with theaccompanying drawings in which like reference characters refer tosimilar parts throughout the several views thereof, and in which:

Fig. l is a rear elevation of an embodiment of my invention showing akeg of beer installed within the multipurpose chassis with the operatingmechanism of the device properly connected for dispensing the beer ondraught and for controllably gassing the same;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same; and

Fig. 3 is a front elevation of my device showing the convenient locationof the dispensing tap and the handheld for manipulating and moving thechassis and also, showing the favorable location of a large advertisingspace at the front of the chassis.

In the embodiment of my invention illustrated, a multifunctional,chassis body is employed preferably in the formof an integral housingindicated as an entirety by the numeral 5 and having a lower, opentopped, cylindrical chamber-forming portion 5a and a supporting bottom5b. The housing 5 as shown, has an integrally formed, upstanding portion50 which rises a considerable distance above the chamber-forming portion5a and preferably is defined at its side edges by reversely curved linesmerging into the rear of the lower portion 5a and likewise merging intoa horizontal, arcuate edge 5d at the upper and forward terminal of thehousing. The entire housing may be conveniently constructed from a suitable cylindricaldrum having a bottom therein, by cutting along the linesfrom top to an intermediate rear portion, as clearly indicated in thethree figures of the drawing. The exposed edges of the open top of thehousing in cluding the side edges, upper edge and lower edge definingthe top portion of the rear of the compartmentforming section, arepreferably covered by a continuous trim 6 of compressible cushioningmaterial such as split rubber tubing, cemented to the curved edgespreviously referred to.

The housing 5 at least in the lower chamber-forming portion 5a thereof,is of a cross sectional shape substan tially larger than the maximumcross sectional area of a keg or other container to be housed andsupported therein, thereby leaving when the keg or container is sup;

ported centrally upon the bottom of the housing, an annular coolingchamber which may be filled with ice or other suitable refrigerant, asindicated in dotted lines in spaced wheels 8 preferably constructed ofhard rubber or equivalent, non-abrasive material journaled on fixedaxles 8a which are secured between the depending ends of a U-shapedbracket 9 in each instance. The brackets 9 and wheels 8 as shown, aredisposed in spaced relation at the forward portion of the housing bottomand are axially aligned. At the opposite portion of the bottom, asuitable supporting stand 10 is provided, as shown in the shape of a'U-shaped rod having the upper ends of its two legs welded or otherwiserigidly afiixed to the housing bottom. The height of the stand ispreferably approximately equal to the combined height of the wheels withtheir mounting brackets to maintain the chassis body upright with thebottom thereof disposed substantially horizontally. A water drain andcock 11 is mounted at the rear portion of the chamber section 5a nearthe bottom of the housing and of course, in communication with theinterior thereof.

The upstanding portion 5c of the chassis body forms a wide supportingpost and is provided with suitable handle means for facilitating readytilting of the body from its normally resting erect position to placethe weight upon the wheels 8 for wheeling of the chassis forwardly orrearwardly as desired. To this end, in the form illustrated, hand holds5e are formed through the upper end of the upstanding housing post 5cand adjacent the longitudinal edges thereof; and the upper andhorizontal edges defining these hand holds are preferably cushioned bysuitable rubber trim 12.

The upstanding portion 50 of the chassis body further serves as amounting and support for a detachably connected tap 13 which may be ofconventional construction having the valve handle 13a and a conventionaldischarge spout 13b. Such a tap has an inner tubular portion externallythreaded for attachment to a threaded socket l4, tapped through topcentral port of the upstanding chassis portion 50.

The interior or rear wall of the upstanding chassis portion 5c functionsas a medium for supporting and housing a carbon dioxide supply tank andits valved connections with the upper portion of a keg K. To this'end,as shown, a heavy, resilient, split-gripping collar 15 is secured to theintermediate rear surface of upstanding housing portion 50, constructedto tightly grip and support a small compressed-gas tank G ofconventional structure. For malt beverages such as beer and ale the gasmedium is usually carbon dioxide, which is'obtainable in small tankshighly'pressurized, weighing as'little asa pound or pound and one-half.The tank G isvalved at its upper end and has afiixed thereto .a smallgas discharge pipe 16 which is equipped with a regulator and gaugecombination 17 and hasfurther interposed therein, as shown, a cock 18. Aconduit 19 which'may be a flexible hose, connects cock 18 with aconventional tap rod R, which is tightly fitted into the bung hole ofthe keg after the bung is removed. As shown, a regulator and gaugecombination 20 is interposed in the line of conduit 19. v

.The conventional tap rods mentioned employa fitting having an annularor other passage for the gas through the shank thereof, said fittingsurrounding and being-out of communication with theelongated beerdischarge pipe 21which is affixed axially to the fitting and extendsdownwardly to a point close to the bottom of the keg. The upper end ofbeer discharge pipe 21 communicates with a discharge head 21a which isconnected as shown by a once used or disposable hose section 22, theupper end of said section being engaged with the inlet pipe 13c of thetap 13 mounted forwardly and externally of the chassis body near the topthereof.

Operation and advantages From the foregoing description it will be seenthat -I have provided a portable chassis which is adapted to normallystand in erect position with the bottom thereof supporting a keg orother container containing a draft beverage such as beer. Present daykegs are for the most part constructed of metal so that chilling of thecontents by packing the annular space between keg and the lower housingportion 5a with ice is readily accomplished. The chassis body thusserves as a support for the keg and as a refrigeration compartment toreceive ice and thus obtain uniform chilling of the contents of the keg.

The device may be readily wheeled from place to place bygrasping the toppart of the upstanding portion 50 of the housing and tilting the sameslightly forward to place the weight of the keg and housing on thewheels 8.

After the keg is chilled the gas supply and itsline is regulated at theproper predetermined pressure, and the beer or other beverage may bewithdrawn as desired by actuating the tap 13, the discharge beingdisposed at a convenient height at the top portion and front of thechassis body.

A substantially uniform temperature of the beverage is .secured throughthe cooling of the keg rather than the conventional dispensing coil.Therefore uniform 4- gassification of the beverage during consumption ofthe entire contents of the keg is assured, since the saturation level ofthe gas by the beverage is substantially constant.

The parts of my device or apparatus are few, being with exception of theunique multi-functional chassis of conventional structure which can beeasily obtained from present manufacturers.

While obtaining 118W and superior results in the uniform and excellentdraft characteristics of the'beverages served, my device adds noadditional media such as elongated coils or otherparts which arediflicult to sterilize. The tap .13 is readily removable from thechassis for sterilization, as is the conventional tap rod R.

My improved device is particularly adapted for use at small gatheringswhere it is desired to portably support, chill, gas and dispense maltbeverages and the like to a number of people at different points in aroom or suite of rooms orin a yard.

The front of the chassis body offersian excellent medium of advertisingfor a manufacturer or distributor, :being disposed directly below thetapfrom whichthe beverage is withdrawn.

It will of course .be .understood that various changes may be made inthe proportions and arrangements of the parts and in the substitution ofequivalents all .within the scope of my invention.

What I claim is:

1. Apparatus for cooling, gassing, transporting and dispensing kegbeverages comprising a chassis body Ientirely open at its upper end andin the form of a housing having a bottom and cylindrical lower chamberof a cross sectional shape larger than that of a keg to be accommodatedto provide an'annular ice-packing space, said chamber being of a meanheight .less than that of the height of the keg to be accommodatedtherein said body being continuous and .having an upwardly tapered,upstanding supporting post rising substantially above said chamberportion and above a keg mounted upon the bot tom of said body, adispensing tap mounted 'exteriorly at the top of said upstanding post,means for detachably supporting a small tank of charging gas on theinterior of said upstanding supporting post, a conventionalgasdischarging and beverage withdrawal tap for positioning in thebung-hole of a beverage keg, regulating valve connections for connectionbetween said gas-charging tank and said keg tap and means connected withthe lower portion of said body for facilitating travel of said body overthe ground or other supporting surface.

2. The structure set :forth in claim 1 and said last mentioned meansconstituting a pair of wheels below-one side of the bottom of said :bodyand a supporting stand I below the opposite side of said body.

References Cited in thefile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 196,297Hovey Oct. 23, 1877 2,046,953 Kellogg July 7, 1936 2,774,229 Thau et a1.Dec. l8, 1956 2,792,692 Bryan May 21, 1957

